On The Run
by Beth0987
Summary: If we ever get separated, go find a policeman. It's their job to look after lost kids. After her mother is shot and kidnapped, eight year old Lily Hamlyn is finding out just how good this advice is.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first CSI fanfic. Please read and review!

This chapter doesn't have any of the CSI characters in until right at the end. It's more background to the case, and for Lily.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. Apart from Lily, her mother and the scary guy. Wait, that's practically everyone!

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"And they all lived happily ever after. The end," Christine smiled at her daughter, who was tucked up in bed.

"Can't I stay up a little bit longer, Mommy?"

"It's already late, sweetie. Besides, you have school tomorrow, remember?" Lily nodded. Christine stood up and turned off the light.

"Night night,"

She waited for a reply, but Lily was already sound asleep.

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There was a loud bang. Lily jerked awake, a sob catching in her throat. She had had a bad dream. Usually her Mommy would hear and wake her if she had a nightmare, so why was there no-one in here?

Then she heard it.

Someone was shouting downstairs. A man.

She quickly pulled on some clothes. She didn't want to go and see whoever was down there in a nightie. Lily tiptoed over to the door and tried to look around into the hall, but all she could see was the very top of the staircase and the door to her Mommy's bedroom. Something else smashed.

"Mommy?" she whispered, so the man downstairs breaking things couldn't hear. There was no reply. Lily crept as quietly as she could over to her Mommy's room, and opened the door. There was no-one there, but someone had pulled the sheet and blanket off the bed. One of the pillows had been torn open. The little glass vase that Lily had always loved and was sometimes allowed to hold, if she was very good, was smashed on the floor.

"Mommy!" She called a little louder now. Whoever the strange man was, he might hurt them. Lily decided to find out what was going on downstairs. That was probably where her Mommy was.

The trip down the stairs was fine, apart from a couple of creaks. Anyway, the man was being so loud now he probably couldn't hear her. She sat on the bottom step wondering what to do next. If she went in, this stranger might hurt her and anyway, she had always been told not to talk to strangers. But if she stayed here, he might find her or hurt Mommy.

After a few minutes, Lily still hadn't decided. She was scared. The voices- she was sure there were at least two- were impossible to hear properly through the thick door, and the phone was in the kitchen with them. Suddenly, the door flew open and she could hear, clearly, her Mommy's voice.

"All right. I'll come. Just leave her alone!"

"Mommy!" Lily was horrified. Her Mommy, who always looked so perfect, had a big cut on her forehead and was covered in bruises. Mommy looked at her with horror in her eyes.

"Lily! What are you doing here? I thought you were in bed," Why was Mommy so sad?

"You mean the kid's awake?" The man who walked through the door was massive, and had tattoos up and down his arms. His head had been shaved and he looked about as menacing as it was possible to be. This was the man who had been shouting all this time.

"Well, Christy, looks like your little sleeping beauty's woken up. The kid's seen me. You know what that means,"

Christy? No-one called her Mommy Christy, only Christine.

"Please, no! You can't!" Tears were streaming down her Mommy's cheeks. What was going on? Why was Mommy so sad?

"'Fraid so Christy. You know the rules," The man pulled a gun out from under his shirt. Lily froze.

"No!" But the man pulled the trigger. There was an explosion of blood.

"Lily…" Her Mommy was lying crumpled on the floor, blood oozing out from a hole in her shoulder. She had stepped in front of Lily.

"What is it, Mommy?" The man was reloading his gun, he must have only had one shot left. He looked as if he was going to fire again…

"Run!"

Lily ran.

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Lily didn't know how long she had been running. Houses in their quiet neighbourhood flashed by and she found herself getting closer to the beach. She knew it hadn't been far from her house, she walked there sometimes on the weekend. But always with her Mommy.

Now Mommy wasn't here.

The sky was getting lighter. Lily had become too tired to run anymore, and for the last hour she had been wandering around trying to find somewhere safe. All the people she had seen had been drunk or just passed out on the pavement. It had been too late at night for anyone normal to have been out. At the moment she was sitting in the shade of a big building, crying and hoping her Mommy would come and find her. But how would Mommy know where she was? She had been a bad girl and run away. But hadn't Mommy told her to run?

Lily was confused and scared and her hand was hurting from when she had fallen over and grazed it a while ago, and hour or two maybe. She looked around for someone, anyone, who might be able to help her.

A car had pulled up in front of the building, and a man was climbing out of it. Lily huddled further back into the shadow in case it was the one who had shot her Mommy, and had somehow found her, but it was definitely not him. He was wearing a suit, didn't have tattoos and she had never seen anyone with that colour hair before. It was a sort of gingery-red. He was also wearing sunglasses.

Lily wasn't planning to go talk to him, but then she saw a big shiny badge hanging off his belt. He was a policeman. Hadn't her Mommy always told her when they were out in Miami centre together?

_If we ever get separated, go and find a policeman. It's their job to look after lost kids. _

Lily got up, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. She hoped he wouldn't notice the blood that was staining her skirt, or that she hadn't brushed her hair and it was hopelessly tangled.

"Er… Mister?"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Maraena, who reviewed.

As usual, please read and review!

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The man looked round. Lily couldn't see his eyes through the sunglasses, but he was frowning slightly. He was probably wondering what a kid like her was doing out this early in the morning. All the other girls in her class at school would be in bed at the moment, or watching cartoons. He crouched down so he was about level with her.

"What's your name?"

"Lily," Maybe he would help her. Policemen had to help people. Her Mommy had told her that, and her Mommy was always right.

"How did you get here? Are you hurt?" The man's voice was gentle. Lily already trusted him, but she didn't know why.

"I think I'm ok. I ran here 'cos… I think she's dead!" Lily hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. Her eyes were burning from trying not to cry.

"Who's dead?"

"My mom. They took her," The tears that had threatened to overwhelm her came back in full force, and several spilled across her cheeks. The man reached out and took her hand.

"Okay, just come in here and tell me everything. Then I can try and find her for you,"

They walked towards the front stairs on the building. Lily looked up at her new friend- he looked very tall when he was standing straight- and realised she didn't even know who he was.

"Mister?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?" The man smiled.

"Horatio. Horatio Caine,"

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Lily was sat on a long bench opposite an enormous window. Someone had given her a can of Coke, but she hadn't opened it yet.

After Mr Caine had taken her into the building (she found out it was actually the CSI labs) and had asked what her address was, she'd been waiting for him to come back. A nurse had looked at her hand and said it was just a graze, and a couple of people had walked through and given her strange looks, but they'd all looked like they were in a hurry to be somewhere else.

Lily wondered what was happening at her house. Maybe they'd found her Mommy, and arrested the evil guy. But what if they hadn't? She had seen all the blood that was smeared around the kitchen, and all the bleeding from the gunshot wound. Didn't you die if you lost too much blood?

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't notice someone else walk into the room until they sat down next to her. She turned to look. It was the most beautiful lady Lily had ever seen, even prettier than her Mommy. She felt a small stab of guilt for thinking something like that when her Mommy was probably dead or dying someplace, but it wasn't as if she could lie about it, even to herself.

"Hi. I'm Calleigh. H asked me to look after you till he comes back," The lady was smiling at her, but she looked a bit nervous. Lily didn't know why. The scary guy who shot her Mommy wasn't here, was he?

"I'm Lily,"

"That's a very pretty name, Lily," They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, before Calleigh said brightly,

"Do you like colouring?"

"Sometimes," Right now she was so bored that anything would seem good.

Calleigh led her down a corridor into a room with a desk that had a lot of paper on it.

"This is H's office," Calleigh stepped behind the desk and looked thoughtfully at it. "And I happen to know he keeps a box of crayons in… this drawer!" She opened it and pulled out a big box of crayons and some paper.

"Why does he have crayons in his drawer?" Lily asked. She had never met a grown up who liked crayons.

"I don't know. Shall we go do some drawing?"

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They had been drawing for half an hour. Lily had done a picture of her school (she didn't really want to do her house), her friend Carla who was in her class, and the little cat that sometimes followed her to school. Calleigh had been busy doing her own drawing, which surprised Lily. Usually when they did colouring at school the teachers would walk around and lean over her shoulder to see what she was doing, but Calleigh seemed just as deep in her own drawing as Lily had been a second ago. Calleigh seemed to notice she was being stared at and looked up.

"Is that your school?" Lily nodded. "And your friend? Do you have a cat?"

"No, she follows me to school. I think her name's Cookie," Calleigh smiled. Lily tried to look at what she had drawn, but only caught a glimpse of a handsome man with black hair before Calleigh covered it with another bit of paper.

"Calleigh!"

Another lady was walking towards them. She looked very surprised when she saw Lily, but smiled warmly.

"What's your name, sugar?"

"Lily," It was strange having to tell everyone who she was.

"Nice to meet you Lily, I'm Alexx," Alexx turned to look at Calleigh. "There's been a shooting downtown. Hagen requested you personally on the firearms evidence, I'm afraid,"

"Well, I can't just leave Lily on her own…" Lily pretended not to notice the hopeful looks Calleigh was giving Alexx.

"I'll take her if you like," For a second Calleigh's expression was purely relief. Lily grinned.

"Bye Calleigh,"

"Bye!" Calleigh almost ran off down the corridor. Alexx laughed.

"That girl's never happy till she fires off a couple of rounds,"

What? But Calleigh seemed so nice! Could she…

"She sh-shoots people?"

"No, not people. She finds out who shoots people by testing the guns," explained Alexx. They were in a part of the lab Lily hadn't been before, with a big table and loads of big drawers in one wall. It was really cold.

"So she could find out who shot my mom!" Alexx glanced up briefly from the filing cabinet she was looking in.

"Maybe, sugar. It's a lot more complicated than that,"

They left the room a few minutes later. Alexx was holding some files she said she had to give to DNA, and they were going to the labs. There were lots more people down here, most of them wearing long white or blue coats. They stopped in front of a glass door. Lily could see a man inside bent over a microscope.

"Wait here a moment, I'm just going to give these to him," Alexx went into the room and was soon talking to the man inside.

There was a loud bang, then another. It must be the man who shot her Mommy!

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Lily ran down the seemingly endless corridors, trying to find a place away from the noise. It chased her into the lobby, down another corridor and finally into a tiny cupboard that smelled of bleach when it stopped. Lily sat huddled in the corner, crying a little. What if he found her? He was going to kill her, she knew that. Maybe if she stayed here he'd go away, or Mr Caine would arrest him.

She sat in the cupboard for what felt like hours before she heard footsteps outside. She opened the door a crack to see who it was, and gasped. It was the man from Calleigh's drawing!

He had heard her, and swung round.

"So you're the little kid everyone's looking for. H was pretty annoyed you'd gone- No, don't worry, he's not angry," he added after seeing Lily's look of terror. "He's just a bit worried. My name's Eric, by the way. You must be Lily,"

"I know you!" Lily said, then blushed slightly. Eric looked puzzled.

"Where do you know me from?"

"The blonde lady- Calleigh- did a drawing of you," Eric's look of puzzlement turned to downright confusion for a couple of seconds.

"Well, H just got back from the crime- your house. Do you want to go see him?"

Lily nodded, and followed Eric back to Mr Caine's office. Maybe they'd found her Mommy!

"Hey H, I found her," Alexx was in there as well as Mr Caine, who smiled when he saw her.

"Did you find my mom?"


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, R+R!

One of my friends said that Lily seemed too intelligent. I suppose she might be, but as I'm doing a lot of it from her POV she has to notice most things or I'll never be able to tell the story. There are more scenes without her in this chapter, so maybe she'll be more normal.

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They hadn't found her.

Mr Caine had been very nice about telling Lily, and had hugged her when she started crying, but that didn't change the fact her Mommy, the person she loved most in the world, was missing, probably dead.

Of course, they hadn't told her that. Mr Caine said they hadn't finished processing the evidence, and the kidnapper might have left some DNA behind that they could use to find him and her Mom.

Lily was sure that the scary guy- the one she had had to describe about a million times over the last hour or so- had killed her mommy already. Lily had no other living relatives, at least none that she knew about, so the only alternative was…

Temporary foster care. Though from the chance there was of her Mommy being alive, it would probably be permanent. Mr Caine was taking her there now, in the big CSI car.

"We're almost there," Mr Caine glanced over his shoulder. Lily was sitting curled up on the back seat, her long hair hiding her face. She could see him though. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Really, Lily was terrified. One of the girls in her class had been taken into care when she came into school with a huge bruise on her face for the second time. Her teachers would think Mommy was bad, and that Lily shouldn't be allowed to see her. If her Mommy was alive at all.

They pulled up in front of a small house only a few streets away from Lily's, with a blue door and a square lawn in front. It looked too neat to have any kids in.

The door was opened by a middle-aged lady with dark brown hair. She stared at Mr Caine for a few seconds before looking at Lily.

"You must be Lily. My husband and I will be looking after you. Won't that be fun?" The lady's smile seemed a little too forced. "My name's Anne, but you can call me Aunty Annie,"

Lily thought she didn't have any aunties, or that's where she'd be now. They must have found one.

"Thank you for taking her at such short notice, Mrs Gardner," said Mr Caine. He left after that, even though Aunty Annie tried to invite him in for tea or coffee about four times. Lily was all alone again.

"Now dear, you should come and meet the other children,"

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"There were nearly thirty pieces of evidence, and you're telling me not one of them can be matched to our shooter?" Horatio had got back to the labs in time to hear the DNA report from Speed, which was not good news.

"All of the blood we found in that room didn't match anyone on CODIS, but was similar to Lily Hamlyn's. Almost certainly her mother,"

"Almost?"

"Well, it could have belonged to one of her other relatives, but she doesn't have any,"

"That she knows of…" Horatio trailed off. "Did we do a check on relatives?"

"Of course. No-one else called Hamlyn in Miami,"

"That's something, at least. Any leads? Anywhere?"

"Not yet. Working on it,"

"Good,"

Eric really hated jigsaw puzzles.

Sometimes it was necessary for a document or photograph to be pieced together for vital evidence, but usually he got Speed to do it. Speed had a tendency to get completely addicted and stay in the lab long into the night patiently matching up tiny fragments of god knows what. Eric had no patience for it.

But Speed was stuck sorting out at least twenty or so pieces of DNA evidence, and Calleigh had run off down to the firing range with the five bullets and six bullet casings they found at the scene. Most of them had been fired harmlessly into the floor or furniture, but there was one that was probably still in the shoulder of Christine Hamlyn, wherever she was.

There had also been several shredded and bloodstained photographs, and only one CSI left to do the dirty work.

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"Lily, this is my son Kevin. Kevin, this is Lily,"

Kevin glared at her. He was only about ten but looked huge, with a shaved head and an earring. Lily wondered how it could be so neat with someone like him around.

"Well, I'll leave you two to make friends!" Aunty Annie beamed at them and went into the kitchen, cheerfully unaware of Kevin's barely disguised hostility.

"I don't want you here," said Kevin. I don't want to be here, Lily thought but didn't dare say out loud.

"Leave us alone," Lily was saved from having to talk to Kevin by Aunty Annie shouting 'Dinner!'

With a final glare, Kevin left Lily alone. For now.

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BANG.

BANG. BANG.

Calleigh Duquense was very happy. She had got a result and better yet, a really big gun. She only needed one bullet to test her theory but, well, what was the fun in only firing once?

BANG. BANG. Click…

The magazine was empty. Calleigh put the gun back on the table and went down to the other end of the range to check if she was right.

She checked, then double-checked. Yep. 100 accuracy. She picked the bullets out of the dummy she had set up. Perfect. She turned around, and nearly walked into Horatio.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that,"

"You shouldn't leave your earplugs in when you finish shooting,"

Calleigh's hand flew up to the side of her head, and she grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Yeah,"

"So, what have you got for me?" Horatio was looking at the gun she'd just put down. It was a fairly standard 9mm, and the type she was almost certain had been used in the Hamlyn shooting.

"Well, I checked the trajectory of the bullet to find out where it would have gone, and as we didn't recover it at the scene it must still be in Christine Hamlyn if they haven't pulled it out by now,"

"Why would they pull it out?"

"That bullet would have hit her shoulder. I checked with Alexx, and there's at least a 90 chance Christine Hamlyn's still alive,"


	4. Interlude I

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

As for the whole Speed being alive thing, it's because I've only seen the first series of Miami (though the new one starts on channel 5 tonight, yey!) and so although I am aware there is a guy called Ryan on the show now I don't know him from Adam and therefore if I tried to write him it would be awful. All the character description I got from my more knowledgeable friend Calleigh Delko was: 'EEEEEE! He's evil and I hate him and he follows Calleigh around!'

So... yeah.

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It was the steady movement of the van that woke her up. She carefully opened her eyes. The pain from her shoulder was excruciating, brining tears to her eyes.

Her hands were tied behind her back with something, probably duct tape. The floor of the van was wet and sticky with what she suspected was blood.

What had happened? He'd come in just after she had put Lily to bed-

Lily.

Where was Lily? Had he got her? Where could she be?

Run.

"I told her to run," she said hoarsely to the darkness, her throat dry. Then, a little louder and surer, "I told her to run, and she did,"

Despite the pain, hunger and general awfulness of her situation, she smiled.

She may have been bleeding, tied up in a van being taken to god knows where, but Lily was safe from him.

That was all that mattered.


	5. Chapter 4

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

After this chapter I'm not going to update for a few days as I need some time to plan my next attack, as I'm a little hazy on the details as to what happens next. I'm also going to be writing another little humour fic, which has been nagging me since I heard someone say something very interesting about Hummers...

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"Lily, dear? There's someone here to see you," Lily had only been staying with Aunty Annie for just over a day, but she had had two visitors. One had been a very nosy social worker who asked her a lot of questions, nearly as many as they had at the police station, and the other had been Alexx, who said she had just come off shift. That had been nice.

"Lily, come- Hello, Lieutenant Caine, please come in!"

So it was Mr Caine. Maybe they'd found her Mommy! No, they couldn't have found her yet.

Mr Caine came in, followed by Aunty Annie. Kevin was sitting watching TV at the other end of the room. Aunty Annie had made him take off the earring because they were expecting guests. Lily didn't know who the guests were yet.

"Lily, how are you?" asked Mr Caine.

"Fine," Aunty Annie turned the volume down on the TV. Kevin turned round and scowled, but it turned into a grin of delight when he saw Mr Caine's gun.

"Cool! Is that real?"

"Yes, which is why you shouldn't touch it," Mr Caine carefully moved his gun out of Kevin's reach and turned back to Lily.

"Calleigh was looking at your house a while ago, and she found out some interesting stuff," Lily sat up. Maybe they had found her!

As if he had read her mind, Mr Caine shook his head. "No, we haven't found your mom yet. But we're almost certain she's alive,"

Hope exploded like a firework in Lily's chest. Her Mommy was still alive! If she was alive, Mr Caine could find her!

"No, Kevin, it's rude to stare," Aunty Annie's voice bought Lily back down to reality. Kevin was still fixed on Mr Caine's gun.

"I've got to get back to the lab," Mr Caine got up to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for tea? Or coffee?" But Mr Caine was already halfway out the door.

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When Calleigh got into work that morning she found Eric still hunched over the table he'd been at last night. Instead of a pile of shredded paper in front of him though, there were several bloodstained photographs.

"Have you been here all night?" Eric jumped. He hadn't heard her come in.

"I can see how Speed gets addicted to these things," He grinned weakly at her, and turned back to his work. He had been concentrating so hard on piecing together fragments he hadn't really looked at the pictures as photos. There were a few of a younger Christine Hamlyn, and one of…

"I thought Lily didn't have any male relatives," murmured Calleigh. She was standing right behind him now.

"She doesn't. Speed checked," Calleigh reached around Eric to touch the last photo. It had a baby Lily being held By Christine, and in the background was a large man with a shaved head and tattoos on his arms.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"If it's not the guy Lily described, it's his identical twin," replied Eric, still staring at the photo.

"Horatio will want to know about this," Calleigh stepped away from the table, and Eric could breathe again. "Has he been in this morning?"

"Only for a few minutes. I think he went to Ann Gardner's place to see Lily,"

Calleigh got her phone out rang his number. "Hey, Horatio, it's me…"

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A tiny baby with a dusting of honey-blonde hair and brown eyes, being held by her beaming mother. Behind them, smiling as well, a tall heavy-set man with several swirly tattoos on his upper arms shown off by a sleeveless shirt and a shaved head had his arm around the young woman. They were in a small but wonderfully planted garden, with a bright green lawn and shaded by two apple trees. There was a tall fence behind them, also painted green. One of the woman's strappy sandals was silver, but the other was a rusty brown- that corner of the photograph had been stained with blood.

"That's our guy," Horatio was staring thoughtfully at the photo. "But what's he doing here?"

"We don't know yet. There's no date or anything on the back, but this photo is probably about seven years old,"

"Wait… What's that?" Calleigh pointed at different photo, one with Christine cooking. She was wearing a sleeveless top, and poking out from under one strap was a tattoo. It was tiny, with black lines picking out an intricate design.

"It looks familiar," said Eric.

"Where from?"

"Not this lady, obviously, but I've definitely seen someone with one of those before,"

"Good. Eric, check our records for anyone with this design. Calleigh, come with me. We've got another case to work on,"

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Kevin's friends had come round for dinner.

Aunty Annie had cooked a big pan of lasagne, and had gone to eat hers in the living room so Kevin could 'introduce Lily to his friends'. Kevin was doing this, and enjoying every second of it.

"This is Lily. She's here 'cos someone shot her mom and no-one else wanted her,"

"Cool!" said the boy sitting on Kevin's left, cheese sauce all down his shirt. "Did you see it? Was there blood everywhere?"

"Are you kidding?" Kevin laughed, smirking at Lily. "All over the walls and splashing and everything! Haven't you seen people get shot on TV?"

"Is your mom dead then?" asked another of the boys eagerly.

"No," Lily replied, glaring at him. "She's alive. Mr Caine told me so,"

"Oh, he was probably just trying to make you feel better," Kevin patted Lily's shoulder in a mock-friendly gesture. "She's dead. That guy you said kidnapped her just dumped the body,"

Lily couldn't take it anymore. She ran out, through the living room and into the bathroom, wiping tears from her eyes. Through the door she could hear Aunty Annie asking the boys what was wrong with Lily.

"Nothing, Mom. We were just messing around,"

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Gun, bike, rose, bike, skull, skull, gun, skull…

One bad tattoo after the other flashed past the screen, with the occasional interesting custom design a brief reprieve from the boredom. Eric had the mouse in one hand and a computer-enhanced image of Christine's tattoo in the other, and was searching for a match. He knew the chance was slim to none of him finding one, and would have stopped long ago if he didn't have the feeling he had seen this before.

There. Same design, down to the last inkblot. Now who did it belong to…?

Eric stared. H was not going to believe this.


	6. Chapter 5

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

Okay... I cracked. I wasn't planning to add this chapter for a few days but all the wonderful reviews persuaded me to (hint, hint). The days of daily updates are over now, unfortunately. Life and a lack of ideas are getting in the way. I should be updating again soon, though.

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The worst part of living at Aunty Annie's house was the after-dinner games of Monopoly. Uncle Rob didn't get back from work until after they had all eaten, and he was very big on spending 'quality time' with his only son. The only problem was he didn't know how to go about it. So, after a few minutes of one-sided conversation about football or a film, Aunty Annie always dug out their ancient and only board game and suggests that we all play, won't that be fun? Lily was roped in as well.

"It's my turn now, isn't it?"

"No dear, it's Lily first. You know that," Lily rolled. Double six. She moved her counter twelve spaces to Pall Mall, which she owned.

"Roll again, dear!" No-one had called her dear before she came to Aunty Annie's. It still felt a bit weird. A five and a two. Marlborough street.

"Do you want to buy it?" asked Uncle Rob. Lily shook her head. She was nearly out of money already.

Kevin seized the dice. "My go!"

A three and a… one. Go to jail.

"That's not fair!" Kevin glared at the board. "I always go to jail!"

"Now dear, calm down, I'm sure you'll be out before you know it. It's my turn now, isn't it?"

Kevin smacked the centre of the board, making the cards and pieces fly everywhere. Aunty Annie called after him but he stomped off to his room.

Lily was helping Uncle Rob pick up Monopoly pieces (Aunty Annie had gone after Kevin) when the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be at this time of night?" Uncle Rob got up and left the living room. Lily heard him open the door, and then,

"I'm sorry; we don't want whatever you're selling. Goodbye," The door didn't shut though. After a few seconds Lily heard Uncle Rob apologize to someone.

"Hi," Uncle Rob came back with a man that looked familiar. He sat down on the sofa and politely refused a cup of coffee.

"I'm Speed, I'm from CSI," He leaned forward slightly. "I need to ask you a few more questions, is that ok?" Lily nodded.

"What happened to Mr Caine?"

"He's a bit busy at the moment, so it's just me. Did your mom have many friends?"

Lily thought about it. Her mommy had worked a lot, and she always came home as quickly as possible, she had said, so she could spend as much time as possible with her little girl.

"I don't think so. There was an old lady who lived next door who looked after me sometimes,"

"Ok. Now, that man you saw in your house, did he look at all familiar? In any way?"

"No," Lily shuddered. She didn't like thinking about that man.

"Thanks Lily," When Uncle Rob came in a minute later Speed was gone.

"Who was that? What did he want?"

"He's going to find my mom,"

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Drip… drip… drip…

A red pool was steadily growing on the ground underneath the body. Her lifeless eyes were wide open, staring at the sunset. She was slung over a low wall separating the beach from the pavement, two enormous gunshot wounds in her chest. The blood was running down her arms and dripping onto the sand, staining it.

Calleigh peered at the pavement next to the wall, searching for bullet casings. The bullets were probably still stuck in the victim's chest.

"Looks like a drive by," She turned. Horatio was leaning over the body, examining the ragged holes in her chest.

"Whatever it was, it would have to be a pretty big gun to do that sort of damage," Calleigh saw something sparkle in the gutter. Bingo.

She was carefully digging out the casing when another police car arrived on the scene. Hagen climbed out, and went over to Horatio, speaking to him quietly. Whatever he was saying, Horatio didn't seem too pleased to hear it. Calleigh ignored them, concentrating on retrieving the casing undamaged.

"Calleigh," Horatio's conversation with Hagen must have finished. "Does this lady look familiar to you?"

Calleigh looked properly for the first time at the victim's face. Short dark hair, wide blue eyes, razor sharp cheekbones… then it hit her.

"Oh no,"

"Yeah. Seems this one just got worse,"

It was Grace Chambers, part-time model and fiancé of the Miami mayor's son. Suddenly there were a lot more suspects with much bigger motives.

"Get this body to Alexx. Calleigh, have you got everything?" Calleigh nodded. "Good. We've got to go back and check how the Hamlyn case is progressing,"

Two hours later Alexx had met, sympathised with, and prepared for autopsy Grace Chambers.

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"Horatio," It was Hagen again. Calleigh wondered if he'd ever leave this case alone. No, probably not.

"Can I have a word? I heard you were planning to do some more work on the Hamlyn kidnapping,"

They both went into Horatio's office. Calleigh was torn between going to see Eric and waiting around for Horatio, so she started off down the corridor walking very slowly, wondering idly what they were talking about.

-------------------------------------

"What do you want? I'm a bit busy at the moment,"

"Exactly. I hope you are going to give the murder of Grace your full attention,"

"I have other cases to run,"

"But you do understand how important this is, Lieutenant? This department could go up in the world if we solve this quickly,"

"And there is also a girl who has been shot,"

"That is regrettable, yes, but the implications…"

"I have work to do. If there's anything else…"

"Seriously, Horatio, the shooting is your main concern right now. Leave the Hamlyn case,"

"Ms. Hamlyn might still be alive. Grace Chambers certainly isn't,"

"Then get someone else to work on it,"

"Eric and Speed are, right now. And I have to go see what they've got for me,"

"Goobye,"

The sound of a door slamming.

--------------------------------

Horatio walked into the room, but Eric barely noticed. Calleigh was already staring at the screen, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"Come on, Eric. Have you got anything good?"

"The best," Eric replied, trying to keep the smugness out of his voice.

"So? What is it?"

"Come over here and see for yourself,"


	7. Chapter 6

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

We finally find out some stuff about Christine this chapter... Or should I say Mary?

-----------------------------

-----------------------------

Christine Hamlyn, it seemed, had been slightly more than just an adoring mommy.

"John Garroway was the head of one of the biggest New York gangs," said Eric, staring at his computer screen. "His youngest daughter ran off when she was sixteen, married a guy called Frank Hamlyn. Changed her name as well. To-"

"Christine," whispered Calleigh. Finally. The pieces were falling into place.

"Someone liked _Phantom Of The Opera_,"

"Does any of this help us ID the suspect?" asked Horatio.

"I was searching through the family records, and found this," Eric pulled up a picture of a man exactly like the one in the photo. "Ralph Garroway, Christine's brother. Looks like he came for a visit last week,"

"Why last week? What's so important now that hasn't been for at least seven years?"

"That's what we need to find out. Eric, go home, get some rest. Speed cankeep digging. Calleigh, Alexx might have some bullets for you downstairs,"

Horatio walked out, the door swinging shut behind him. Eric yawned.

"Sure you can make it home without collapsing?" asked Calleigh.

"Of course. You've got places to go, things to shoot,"

Calleigh laughed. "See you later, Eric,"

"Bye,"

--------------------------------------

It had to happen sometime.

Lily had already missed several days of school, and her teacher had been wondering when she was coming back. So that morning Aunty Annie had dressed her up in her nicest skirt and top and taken her and Kevin in the car to school. It was strange, not like it had been before… everything happened. Lily thought her teacher must have warned the other kids about what had happened to her Mommy, and to be extra kind or something like what she had said when Erin's aunty died. Now they just avoided her.

"Now, who can tell me what five plus five is?" Her teacher, Mrs Davis, looked around for someone to ask. Carla, do you know?"

Carla turned to look at Alice, who sat next to her. Alice whispered something.

"Is it ten?"

"It is, but next time try to work it out yourself,"

The bell went. Lunch.

-------------------------------------

There had to be something here. There just had to be.

Kitchen. Blood covering the walls. Blood drops near the sink, she must have stopped there for a few seconds. Pool nearer the door. Speed had found a couple of white fibres here. Cotton, nothing on them. Probably from the hem of Ralph's shirt.

Moving towards the door. She must have tried to escape. Scuff marks on the bottom, someone had kicked it open. No boot print though. Traces of rubber, but nothing to catch him with.

Through the door.

--------------------------------

"Is it true your mom's dead?"

It was like Kevin's friends all over again. The others had been waiting for the teachers to go before they asked her. Lily didn't think they were trying to be mean, just… interested.

"Did you see her die?"

"Was there blood everywhere?"

---------------------------------

Living room. Blood splatter everywhere, but mainly around the door. Possible drag marks back into the kitchen. A large piece torn out of Christine's shirt was found here, and several hairs that all belonged to her.

Horatio went through the living room, examining everything. If he found something that could tie Ralph Garroway to the scene, they could arrest him- if they found him.

There. A tiny bit of blood, smeared on the bottom of a table clear across the room. How did it get there? It couldn't have been Christine's; she was bleeding too much by then to make it all the way across without leaving any other marks at all.

----------------------------------

Calleigh walked into the room with the photos and computer. Speed had gone and Eric was back in his place.

"Found anything good?"asked Eric without looking up.

"How did you know it was me?" asked Calleigh. Eric could smell it, but he'd never tell her that.

"Anyway, the gun that fired those bullets was used in a drive-by shooting a month ago. Nothing that could help find the owner though," She glanced at the screen. "Have you done any better?"

"Well, the Garroways aren't all that good at playing Happy Families," Eric turned the computer screen a little so Calleigh could see it more easily. "John Garroway had three kids, two sons and a daughter. Ralph, Alexander and Mary,"

"No wonder she changed her name,"

"John was English and wanted everyone to know it. Now, Mary runs away when she's sixteen. We don't know exactly why, but it could have been anything. Changes her name to Christine. Meets a man called Frank Hamlyn. They fall in love, get married. Probably about a year after Lily's born she has a moment of weakness and calls her big brother Ralph. Photos are taken. Now, I searched for Frank Hamlyn and it turns out he died of gunshot wounds somewhere in Louisiana, about seven years ago,"

"So Christine, thinking that her and her daughter are next, run away again to Miami,"

"Exactly. Ralph must have been searching for them all this time, and only just found them,"

---------------------------------

Afternoon lessons. A bit of English.

"For the next few weeks we'll be doing a project on Family," said Mrs Davis, with a guilty glance at Lily. "Write something about a member of your family. It can be your mom, dad or even dog if you want,"

The other kids got to work at once, talking and laughing. Carla leaned over.

"Who are you gonna do, Lily? I'm doing my fish!"

"I dunno," Lily whispered back. She only really had one person in her Family, and that was her Mommy. She couldn't write about her…

Lily had an idea. She leant over her paper and began to write.

--------------------------

In the hall. Blood splatter and pool showing where Christine had been shot, directly in front of the spot where Lily had been sitting. Bullet casing had been found below next to the stairs. Footprints in the blood going out the door, slightly blurred from where Lily had slipped. Up the hall, to where Ralph had been standing.

----------------------------

"So what happened to the other son? Alex?"

"I don't know yet, but I think it might explain a few things,"

"I've got some more stuff to process from the shooting. Good luck!"

-----------------------------------

_13th May _

_My Family_

_Mr Caine isnt realy in my family, he's a poliseman. I met him on the day my mom went mising and he was realy nice. He said he's going to find her four me. I hope he's rite. He came to vist me at Aunty Annies to. _

---------------------------------

Blood smeared on walls. Handprint quite low down, so she must have fallen…

Horatio bent down to look. What was that?

He was distracted from the glint of metal by something cold pressing against the back of his neck.

"Don't move. I don't want to have to blow your brains out. Yet,"


	8. Interlude II

She had been here for what seemed like years but was probably no more than a day or two, the darkness pressing down on her. She thought it was probably a basement: who has no windows in their house?

It was cold, and she could feel the chill seeping through her shirt. The damp brick was rough and her side was bruised from lying on the concrete floor.

There was a click, then a small patch of light appeared on the low ceiling, where the trapdoor was. This had happened a couple of times before, and Ralph had thrown food down. Sure enough, there was a muffled thump as whatever it was bounced off the floor into the corner of the room. But instead of the door closing immediately, there was some muffled cursing and another thump as something was lowered down, then dropped the last few feet into the basement.

Christine felt her way carefully across the room before finally touching the bundle of food. She'd open it later. She turned round and looked for the other thing that had been dropped.

She felt the blood drain out of her face as she realised what it was.

Another person.


	9. Chapter 7

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, it was horrendously difficult. I hope I've kept everyone in character.

------------------------------

------------------------------

"Speed?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Horatio at all? He left a few hours ago,"

"No. Have you tried calling him?"

"No answer,"

"I'll try calling from here,"

"Okay. Thanks,"

"Bye Calleigh,"

Speed flicked through the numbers on his phone until he got to Horatio's.

Beep beep…

Beep beep…

"Yeah?" A voice. Male, but definitely not Horatio.

"Who are you?"

"Who're_ you_?" Laughter. Speed could almost smell the beer.

"How did you get this phone?"

"You must be friends with the guy I've got locked in my basement. Well I've got news f'r you, he's not goin' _any_where. 'Cept maybe six feet under," More laughter. Speed tried to keep his voice steady.

"What do you want? Why did you take him?"

"Hey wait! How do I know you're not trackin' this call?"

"I'm-" Beep. They had hung up.

Speed tried calling again, but Horatio's phone had been switched off. He dialled in another number.

"Crime lab,"

"Calleigh. We've got a problem…"

---------------------------------

It was dark. His head hurt.

Horatio sat up carefully. Nothing broken. Hopefully he wasn't bleeding either, but it was hard to tell in the pitch black.

"You're awake,"

A statement, not a question. Someone who had had nothing better to do than wait.

"Who are you?" he asked. The floor seemed to be concrete. He felt around until his fingers brushed against brick.

"Christine,"

"Christine Hamlyn?" He shouldn't be surprised, really. Who else would be hanging around the crime scene than Mr Ralph Garroway?

"How did you know that?"

"I'm investigating your disappearance," Horatio laughed. Ironic really.

"What's so funny?"

"I told your daughter I'd find you," he might have said more, but was interrupted by a sudden barrage of questions from Christine.

"You've seen Lily? Is she alive? Is she safe? Who's looking after her? Has Ralph hurt her?

"She's fine. She's got a foster mother at the moment,"

Silence. Then, after a moment,

"Thankyou,"

"You're welcome,"

------------------------------------

"What do you mean, Horatio's gone missing?"

"I tried his phone. Some random guy answered, said he had Horatio locked in his basement,"

Calleigh went slightly green.

"Any idea where the call came from?"

"No, not yet," Speed glanced up as Eric came in. he had been back to the crime scene.

"Anything new?"

"Nothing. It's like he just vanished,"

------------------------------------

"Lily, someone at the door!"

Lily came downstairs. It was probably one of the CSIs (Mr Caine had told her that was what they were called). She hoped it was him.

It was Calleigh. She looked very upset.

"Hi Lily,"

"What's wrong?" Lily was getting nervous. What if something had happened to her Mommy? They might have found her body or something!

"Horatio- Mr Caine… He's gone missing. We think he might have met the people who took your mom,"

"Wh- why?" Lily was trying not to cry in front of Calleigh, but it wasn't working too well.

"I don't know,"

-------------------------------

It looked exactly as it had when he'd left it last week.

Click. Click. All things he had multiple shots of already, but there was no new evidence at all. Nothing to show that one of Miami's best CSIs had disappeared here, only a few hours ago.

Speed went over the whole house again, finding nothing new, taking photos of things he'd already seen. They had about as much chance of finding Christine Hamlyn as they did of finding Horatio. If he was right and they were both being held by the same man, it was about the same.

"Found anything?"

It was Hagen. Speed watched as he picked his way over the markers littering the hallway and crouched in front of the handprint on the wall.

"This is really tragic. If there's anything I can do…."

"Look,"

Hagen bent down next to him.

"The woman must have fallen," Hagen started to get up again. Speed stretched out his hand and put it over the print. They were nearly the same size, the print only a tiny bit smaller.

"Close… This is too big to be Christine's hand,"

"How do you know?" Hagen bent down again. He looked like a jack-in-the-box in a suit.

"Lily's definitely small for her age, so Christine's probably not that big either. This print was made either by a tall woman or a short man. And if the suspect is Christine's brother…"

"Get the fingerprints off that then,"

"Yes sir,"

---------------------------------------

"And the last time I saw her, she said she might go back to school soon. She might even have gone today," Horatio's voice was getting hoarse from talking. Christine had asked him every single detail about her daughter from when he'd met her in the car park to the last time he'd visited her, about two days ago, maybe less. It was impossible to tell what time it was in the darkness of the basement.

"That was the last time you saw her?" Christine asked, even though she knew the answer. Without Lily, there was nothing they could talk about to fill the vast, echoing silence.

"Yes. Sorry,"

"No, it's not your fault,"

The lock clicked. Christine jumped. Light flooded the basement.

"Getting cosy are we?" a voice called from the upper level. Christine turned, and realised she had been sitting so close to Horatio they were almost touching. He must have noticed as well, and leaned back slightly.

"Who is it?" she asked loudly.

"I'm surprised at you, _Mary_," said the voice, drawing out the name. "Don't even remember your own flesh and blood,"

The penny dropped.

"Allie,"

Allie laughed. "Still remember your little nicknames, I see. Most people call me Alexander now. See what happens when you don't keep in touch?" He leaned over, and Christine could see her brother's face. He had barely changed. Alex peered hard at Horatio, who was sitting against the wall and staring back.

"You're quiet, cop,"

"I didn't want to interrupt," Alex scowled. He had always hated it when people were smarter than him, which was a pity. It meant he didn't get on with most of the world.

"Both of you, you've gotta come with me. Boss's orders,"

"And who are we to argue with the boss," muttered Horatio. Christine tried to suppress a giggle and stood up shakily. She hadn't done much walking around.

"So, where are we going?"

--------------------------------

Lily closed the flap on her bag and swung it carefully over her shoulder. She'd had to leave most of her clothes and take some food from the fridge, as well as forty dollars from Uncle Rob's wallet. She only had two dollars of her own and se knew that wouldn't last very long, even though she only had the haziest idea of how much things cost. Hopefully the food she had packed would last a couple of days.

She crept out of her bedroom and out onto the stairs. She had checked them on the way up when she went to bed, and was sure none of them creaked.

Even if she hadn't been planning to run away, Lily wouldn't have slept that night. She was trying to work out who would be next. First her Mommy was shot and kidnapped, than the policeman who had tried to help her… It might be Calleigh or Eric or Speed or even Alexx, or maybe Aunty Annie. She'd wake up in the morning and they'd be gone, or shot, or killed.

And it would be her fault.

She opened the front door and stepped out into the garden. The lawn was neat, as always, the car parked in the drive. It almost never was in the daytime.

Lily wasn't quite sure where she was going to go, as long as it was as far away from other people she liked as possible. She didn't want to hurt them anymore.

Lily walked down the street in the dark.


	10. Chapter 8

Thanks to those who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

Whew... Things are picking up. I have a lovely whole week off school next week, so I should be able to post a bit more often.

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----------------------------------

Lily sat on the kerb round the back of McDonalds. She was hungry, but didn't dare go in and buy anything in case someone asked where her parents were. It was still dark, but the sky was lightening slightly. Maybe in a few hours she could go get a burger or something.

She heard footsteps and flattened herself against the wall, but it was just a man who ignored her totally and walked to his car. More people would be using this car park soon, she'd have to move.

Lily stood up, checked her bag and slipped around the side of the restaurant. She wasn't quite sure where she was, though it might be the McDonalds she had sometimes gone to with her Mommy. They had been able to walk there, so it wasn't that far from her house. Not far enough.

Sooo… If they had gone that way to get home and that was nearly the way she came, the best way to go would be in the opposite direction.

She started up the road.

---------------------------------------

"Get in," said Alex, gesturing to a white van. The back was open, and the doors hung off their hinges rustily. Usually Christine would never go near such an unsafe-looking thing, but it seemed necessary. She stepped up into the back and sat down, leaning against the van's side.

"You too,"

Horatio climbed in after her, and sat on the other side. He looked paler in the sunlight and there was a thin line of blood running down the side of his face.

Alex slammed the doors, and they were plunged into semi-darkness yet again.

"What is it with you and dark, Alex?" Christine raised her voice so Alex could hear her. "You'd almost think you wanted something going on…"

"Shut up," He could hear her then. Perfect.

"You know, you're breaking almost every hostage negotiation technique in the book," said Horatio quietly.

"He's my brother," she replied, also quietly. This was one conversation she didn't want Alex overhearing. "I don't think he's going to kill me,"

_I don't THINK. Good one. _

--------------------------------

"Crime lab,"

"Okay, just calm down. What's going on?"

"WHAT? Are you sure?"

"When?"

"What did it say?"

"Okay, I'll be round soon,"

Calleigh hung up and rushed out. She almost ran round a corner and went straight into Hagen.

"Whoa! What's the rush?"

"Anne Gardner just called. Lily's run away,"

"What?"

"Yeah. I'm going round there now,"

A short drive later she was in Lily's room at the Gardner's, holding a piece of paper torn out of a notebook. There was a short note written on it in large, clumsy handwriting.

_Dear Antie annie_

_You and unkle rob and Kevin shud be ok now. _

_love Lily_

"Why would she say Rob, Kevin and I should be ok now?" asked Anne, bringing in a cup of tea.

"She thinks it's her fault…"

"What? Milk or sugar?"

"No, thank you. And Lily might have gone to protect you,"

"But none of it's to do with her, it's just bad luck,"

"She doesn't know that. She thinks everyone she loves is going to die,"

"How do you know?"

"We had a case like this not too long ago. A little boy whose parents and brother were killed in a drive-by shooting. He thought it was all his fault and tried to run away as well,"

"Are you sure she just left? Maybe she was kidnapped!" Anne sounded hopeful, as if a kidnapping could shift the blame onto someone else.

"No signs of a struggle, no entrances forced. I'm sorry, Mrs Gardner, but it looks as if things just got too much for her,"

"I suppose…" Anne shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Do you know if you can find her?"

"We've got some people out looking right now. She was on foot, so she can't have got far,"

"Well, I really shouldn't keep you then. I'm sure you've got other investigations to run,"

_Two missing persons. _"Thank you for your time, Mrs Gardner. We'll do our best to find her,"

Calleigh went back down the stairs and out into the Gardner's front yard. Anne's son was sitting on a bike talking to another kid about the same age.

"That girl's gone at last. She was muckin' up my stuff,"

"What happened?"

"I woke up last night, I had to… you know… and there she was sneakin' out the door. I wasn't gonna stop her,"

Calleigh jolted out of the daze she'd been in. Kevin had seen Lily go?

"Excuse me. Kevin, isn't it?" Kevin turned round.

"You're a cop, right?"

"Yes," she said, not bothering to correct him. "So what time did you see Lily leave last night?"

"I didn't see nothing,"

"I know you did, Kevin, I just heard you tell your friend,"

"If I tell you you're gonna find her and bring her back, aren't you?"

Calleigh suppressed an impatient sigh. "But if we don't find her, Kevin, she might get in real trouble. She might get hurt,"

"I don't care," He turned to his friend, who smirked. He was trying to act cool. Calleigh suspected if she took him inside again with his mother she might get the information a little easier, but she didn't have time to be hanging around.

"Kevin, if she dies we might have to charge you with murder. Then you'll be in prison for the rest of your life,"

An outright lie, but Kevin didn't know that. He was staring at her, terrified.

"It was about midnight, okay? That help?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, it does. Thank you very much,"

---------------------------------------------

Lily sat on the swing in the park, rocking back and forwards. It was still early, so there was no-one else here yet. The hunger that had been nibbling her for a while made her stomach ache, and she was wondering if she could maybe go get some candy from the store opposite.

The latch on the park gate clacked. A little girl ran in, followed by her mother. Lily's heart twisted. The girl's mommy was laughing, like hers used to. Maybe she'd never hear her Mommy laugh again…

She could barely remember what she looked like any more. Her hair had been blonde, lighter than Lily's. She had had blue eyes, Lily knew that, but she couldn't picture a face. It was just a flesh-coloured blur.

Lily felt a tear drop onto her lap. She was crying.

"Are you alright, dear?"

It was the other Mommy, her daughter by her side staring at Lily curiously. Lily looked up. It was ok. This lady had dark hair and brown eyes, not like her Mommy.

"I'm ok,"

"Are you sure? Where's your mother?"

Lily had to hold back a sob when she heard the lady say that, but replied,

"She's… she's in the store over there. She lets me play on my own sometimes,"

"Why are you crying?"

"I- I tripped and hurt my knee,"

The lady frowned, but seemed to accept it.

"Well, me and Gabrielle were going to play for a bit, weren't we?" She turned to the little girl, who nodded, grinning, "and I'll look out for you until your mom comes. Okay?"

Lily nodded helplessly. How was she going to get out of this one?

----------------------------------------

The van stopped, and Alex hauled the doors open.

"Out," he said shortly, scowling at them.

_Allie got that look when he did something wrong, _thought Christine. _I wonder what he did this time._

They were ushered up the stairs into an old building, and stopped in front of an old oak door. It looked out of place in this dilapidated building.

Alex knocked.

"Come in," The voice was old, dry and sent a shock of recognition through Christine right down to the end of her spine.

Alex opened the door and shoved Horatio through. He didn't look as if any of this bothered him at all, though Christine didn't really believe that was how he felt about it. He hadn't spoken at all on the journey up.

The room was dimly lit, with grimy windows behind a massive desk that made the tiny man sitting at it look almost comical. Christine couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to.

"Dad,"

Alex flicked the lights on. She was shocked at how much older her father was. He had only been fifty when she left, but after ten years he looked almost eighty. He smiled. Either he'd been very good about looking after his teeth or these were fakes.

"My errant daughter has decided to return to the fold,"

"I didn't decide anything,"

"That is debatable, my dear. But we may address that issue later on. There are far more pressing matter on our hands at present,"

That was her dad, all right. Some people used two words where one would do. John Garroway used five.

"What issues may they be, father?"

Ah yes. The perfect son act. The room reeked of nostalgia.

"Him," John gestured impatiently to Horatio. "What were you thinking of, bringing a policeman here?"

"He was too close to solving the case, father," replied Alex carefully. "I made the decision to dispose of him,"

"Then why did you not do so when you had the chance? You did not need to bring him here,"

"I-" The statement went unspoken. _I wanted to impress you._

"Actually, they know who you are," said Horatio, startling Alex. He was smiling slightly. "They know exactly what's going on,"

"Silence," John pulled a gun out from his desk drawer, and idly spun the chamber. He cocked it.

"The fact still remains that even though you would be a useful bargaining chip under other circumstances, I have no use for you now. You are, simply, surplus to requirements,"

BANG.


	11. Chapter 9

Thanks to eveyone who reviewed. As usual, please R+R!

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--------------------------------

They had been sitting in the park for nearly half an hour, and Gabrielle's mommy was looking at her watch. Finally, she came over to where Lily and Gabrielle were playing in the sandpit and bent down.

"When is your mother coming, dear? Only Gabrielle has a ballet lesson to get to, we can't stay much longer,"

"It's ok. My mom'll be back soon. I'll stay,"

"I couldn't possibly let you stay here on your own…"

But the lady was already looking distracted.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? Gabrielle has a very important rehearsal, you see, or I'd stay here with you in a second,"

"It's ok, really. Mom'll be back soon," Lily smiled up at the lady, who smiled weakly back.

"Well, if you're sure… Come on, darling,"

Gabrielle and her mom left. Lily sat in the sandpit for a bit longer, allowing the grains to trickle through her fingers. She checked all of her stuff was still in her bag, then pulled out a dollar and headed into the store. She had spent so long lying to the lady about her Mommy being in here she half-believed it herself, and peeked around the door hoping to catch a glimpse of the one person she wanted to see most in the world. But there was only a shopkeeper standing behind the counter. Lily walked down one aisle and up another, looking for food that she could eat now. Big cartons of milk, frozen meat… Candy!

Lily picked out a couple of chocolate bars and went up to the man at the counter. She silently passed them to him. He grinned at her.

"This all you're getting, sweetie? My little girl loves candy too. That'll be eighty-nine cents,"

Lily handed him her dollar. There was a little room behind the counter, with a sign on it written in big letters. Lily couldn't read the words, but the smell coming from the room was wonderful. She heard her stomach growl, and blushed.

"You hungry, sweetie? Tell you what, I'll throw in one of the burgers I've got cooking in the back. That okay?"

Lily nodded, smiling. She'd have some proper food after all! Then, before the man went into the back room, he asked the inevitable question.

"Where's your mommy then?"

"She's outside," Luckily, he was either a lot less suspicious or much more gullible than Gabrielle's mommy, and believed her.

"Ok, one burger coming up!"

-----------------------------------------

BANG.

Christine screamed. Alex smirked. Then, in slow motion, the expression on his face changed to shock, and the colour drained out as if someone had pulled a plug at his neck. He slowly raised his hand and touched his shoulder, staring at the blood on his fingers in disbelief.

"However, I am interested to know exactly how much the police have found out thanks to the incompetence of my sons," said John, as if nothing had happened. Alex was whimpering quietly.

"Y-you shot me. Dad, you SHOT ME!"

John raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I know I did. You were extremely stupid in bringing this man here, and you possibly endangered the lives of your siblings and me,"

"You shot me,"

"Get out of my sight. I never want to see you again, you understand? You failed for the last time. I have only one son,"

"I'll tell them. I'll tell the police where you are and what you're doing. I'll tell them everything,"

"No, you won't. You don't know where we are. Do you?"

It was very obvious that if Alex didn't agree he wasn't going to be alive much longer. Christine stared at her father. How could a man be so cold?

She risked a glance out of the corner of her eye at Horatio. He was watching the scene with a kind of indifference, but she could see the gears working inside his head. _What's going to happen, and how can I get out of here?_

"I-," Alex tailed off. John had the gun out again.

"_Goodbye_,"

Alex staggered out. A moment later they heard the van's engine rev up. John smiled at them.

"Now that little unpleasantness is over with, we can address the other important matters,"

Christine shivered.

------------------------------

"Crime lab,"

"Really?"

"Great, we'll be right there…"

Calleigh, who always seemed to get stuck answering the phone, almost ran out of the room for the second time that day. She grabbed Eric's sleeve on the way, and they were in the car park before she started explaining it to him.

"A nurse just called from the hospital. A man came in a few minutes ago with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, shouting about a lady named Christine and a ginger cop,"

In a second they were in the car and driving as fast as possible to the hospital.

After coming very close to breaking the land speed record, Eric and Calleigh were ushered into a cubicle containing a man lying on a bed with one arm in a sling, a pair of handcuffs connecting said man to bed, and a uniformed officer.

"Mr. Alex Garroway, am I right?"

"I want a deal,"

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll tell you where Mar- Christine and the cop is if you let me go,"

"Fine,"

"Fine?" Alex eyed him suspiciously.

"Fine, we'll let you go. So, where are they?"

"Old warehouse down near the dock. Let me go,"

The officer looked at Eric, who nodded. The other man leant over and unlocked the cuffs. Alex stared at his hand for a moment in disbelief, the lurched off the bed. He made about two steps before collapsing in pain.

"Ok, we've let you go. No we've caught you again. Officer, re-arrest this man,"

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Lily sat in the play park again, chewing her burger. It was much better than the ones at McDonalds, and she wasn't hungry any more. She had put the candy in her bag for later.

The gate clacked again. Lily didn't look up at first; she concentrated on chewing the enormous mouthful she had just taken. A shadow fell across her. She looked up.

Shaven head, tattoos, icy blue eyes. He smiled slightly.

"You've led me a chase, sweetie. But I've got you now,"


	12. Chapter 10

Much as I've enjoyed writing this story, all good things come to an end. Here's mine. Please review and tell me what you think.

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"What are the 'issues at hand then'?" asked Christine.

"Well, my dear, we are heading back to New York presently. But first I would like to know exactly how much of my plan the police have gained from my idiot son," John looked expectantly at Horatio.

"Everything,"

"How do you mean? They don't know where you are. You don't even know where you are,"

"I could guess,"

John grinned, and rubbed his hands together. It made him look like one of the cartoon villains on the programs Lily liked to watch in the mornings.

"By all means, do. There has been precious little amusement here the last few days,"

"In one of the old warehouses down by the dock,"

John started, and glared at Horatio.

"How did you know that?"

"You just told me,"

"I'm getting tired of messing around. I really don't have to keep you alive any longer,"

Silence. It stretched out uncomfortably. Christine, unable to bear it a second longer, said,

"So, Dad, you still haven't told me why I'm here,"

"You should have guessed by now, darling,"

"Nope, Still in the dark,"

John sighed.

"You always were exceptionally dim. Running away, getting married to that animal-,"

"I loved him," Christine felt white-hot rage run through her veins. When she had had to identify the body… Finding out he had been dumped in the river like rubbish… She would never be able to forgive her father for that. Not ever.

"Anyway," continued John as if he hadn't heard her, "A certain business associate of mine found out I had a beautiful daughter, and he wants his son to marry soon. He is a powerful man, and who am I to disobey him?"

More silence. Then, loudly from outside;

"POLICE! FREEZE!"

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Lily tried to run, but she was frozen to the spot. A rabbit caught in headlights. A hand closed around her wrist.

"Come on now, there's someone I think you'll like to meet. Your grandpa,"

"I-I don't have any-," What was the word they had used at the police station? "Relatives," That was it.

"You have more than you know, sweetie. In fact, I'm your uncle. Mommy never tell you about her brothers?"

Lily felt numb. This man was her uncle? But… he shot her Mommy! And if he was Lily's uncle, then he shot his own sister! What was he going to do to her?

Lily began to cry, as quietly as possible. But the man noticed anyway, and laughed.

"Don't worry, sweetie. You'll meet your grandpa, and who knows, your mommy might even be there. Then you're going for a little sleep with the fishes and some concrete,"

He seemed to find this even funnier.

_Pleasenoehe'sgonnakillmepleasenoMommyhelpmeplease…_

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Everything was in place. Calleigh stood in front of the warehouse, staring up at the window with the light on. She wanted to just go up there and shoot John Garrowy, but she knew it didn't work like that. Even so, she had one hand on her gun.

"We all set up?" she asked as Speed walked over and looked up at the half-closed curtains.

"Everyone's in position. I even cleaned my gun for the occasion,"

Calleigh grinned, and went to hide behind a crumbling brick wall. If someone started shooting, they were sitting ducks standing in the car park where the white van had been.

"Ok. Let's go," She waited a few seconds, then the whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree.

"POLICE! FREEZE!"

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It was a van. A blue one. Lily sat trembling in the back, as the man- no, his name was Ralph, he had told her that- was singing along to some music in the front seat. He seemed very happy.

They had made one stop-off during the journey, at a fast-food place where Ralph bought a hot dog. Now they were in a deserted car park, with the radio on and waiting till dark. That's what Ralph said.

Then she'd see her Mommy again and see her grandpa and then he was going to…

Lily wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, as there was no light in the back of the truck. But after what seemed like days, Ralph started up the engine again.

At least she'd see her Mommy again, before…

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John spat out some very interesting words. Christine felt a surge of hope.

"Come on, we're leaving. And leaving the dead body of a cop for them to remember us by,"

Horatio didn't seem to notice the death threat, or promise.

"No use. They'll have this place surrounded,"

"You put too much trust in them. I doubt they'll have noticed the river way,"

Christine tried to keep her face looking terrified, but was cheering inside. Hadn't Horatio said one of his team was a scuba diver? They probably had found her father's escape route, 'secret exit' or not.

"Come on, we're going. And as for you…"

He pointed the gun at Horatio, and fired.

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At least twenty police officers were gathered at the bottom of the warehouse stairs, waiting to go up. At an order from one of the others, they ran up the stairs, Calleigh following close behind. Earlier they had been checking the water side of the building, and Eric had found a recently done-up exit that boats had probably gone out of when this place was in business. They had two police boats waiting there now in case someone tried to use it.

One floor… two floors… this was the one with the light on. Calleigh could hear muffled voices from a room down the corridor.

They ran over to the door and prepared to burst it open…

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"Nearly there!" called Ralph cheerfully over his shoulder.

Lily was huddled up against the wall, her legs pulled up to her chest. The knees of her jeans were damp from tears, and she was shaking all over.

_I'msosorryMommyAuntieAnnieMrCaineCalleighEricSpeedIloveyouMommy_

"Here we are, sweetie! Take a good look, 'cos it's gonna be the last place you ever see!"

Ralph stopped the car, opened the driver's door… and stared down the barrel of a really, really big gun.

"Police! Freeze!"

Someone opened the back.

"Lily?" A light- from a torch?- shone around, then fell on her. She couldn't see who held it, they were in the dark. "Are you okay?"

She was pulled out of the back by the person. It was dark, but the car park and big place next to it was all lit up. Lily could see the person who found her.

"Speed?"

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Click.

John stared at his gun, then pulled the trigger again. Click. Click.

"One of my CSIs has the same problem," said Horatio conversationally. "He didn't clean his gun either. He got shot once. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest though. And you aren't,"

The footsteps of the police running up the stairs were getting closer and closer… John stared blankly at his gun, then grabbed Christine and tried to run. Now that it was obvious his gun didn't work, she wasn't sure she wanted to go though. She grabbed the doorframe and held on.

"What! Come-," John growled in frustration, the let her go. "I'll kill you for this, _Mary._ I'll hunt you down and kill you!"

He ran out. After a few seconds, the police burst in, followed by Calleigh.

"Horatio! You're all right!" She turned to Christine. "Mrs Hamlyn, right? Nice to meet you, ma'am,"

"Lovely to meet you too. You must be Calleigh Duquesne. Call me Christine," It was a bit odd, exchanging formal greetings in the middle of a room where they had been held hostage and the walls smeared with blood, but it seemed perfectly natural to Christine.

"Calleigh," she replied. The radio hanging off her belt beeped.

"Calleigh?" It was Speed.

"Yeah?"

"Guy turned up in a van. Had a shaved head, tattoos. Lily was in the back. Looks like she was going to meet her grandpa,"

Calleigh went to tell Christine, but she had heard everything.

And was already halfway down the stairs.

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John could hear splashing. Just a… just a rat or something. Of course.

He waded through a bit more of the muck. This was unsavoury, but necessary. He had absolutely no desire to be caught by the authorities at THIS stage of the game. He had been doing this too long.

He had had this exit done up a few months before, just in case something like this occurred. Of course, the loss of Mary was regrettable, but she wasn't going to live much longer anyway. As soon as he was back in New York he would have someone sent to kill her and the daughter, whatever her name was.

There. He could see the dim lights ahead, and after a few more careful steps groping around he felt the smooth wood of a boat. He found the side, and tried to haul himself in.

Something grabbed his ankle and pulled. He fell back and into the water, swallowing a mouthful of dirty water. He came up coughing, and reached for the boat again. The thing grabbed his wrist. He tried to pull away, but the grip tightened.

"John Garroway?"

"Who's asking?" He coughed and spat out water. Who else would even think of coming down here?

"You're under arrest,"

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It was very nearly pandemonium in the car park. There was an ambulance which had just arrived, despite Horatio's protests that he was all right. Several policemen were 'escorting' a dripping wet John Garroway to a police van next to the one his son was in, shouting about where were his rights and when was he going to get a lawyer?

Calleigh and Speed were talking to Horatio. Eric was as wet as John and had several towels wrapped round him, but was making his way through the crowds of people to the ambulance as well. A couple of news crews had arrived, but were being held at bay by Hagen, who had arrived as the raid started.

In the middle of this, with everyone standing at a respectful distance, Christine stood with Lily in her arms, tears dampening her daughter's hair. Lily was hugging her Mommy back, just as hard.

"Oh god… Lily… I'll never leave you again, I promise. Not ever,"


	13. Epilogue

A letter that arrived at the lab, postmarked from England.

_Dear Mr Caine_

_Its realy nise here. There is a big feild behind our hous with lots of shep in!_

_I am going tostart schul here soon. It is a lot smaler than my old one. The girls and boys sem realy nise. The techer is caled Mis Brown._

_please say bye to Cali and Erick and Sped for me_

_Lots and lots of love_

_Lily _

_xxxxxx _


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